Careers

Horticulture is a very diverse industry with excellent opportunities in a wide range of work activities across the world. Horticulture impacts in many areas of our day to day lives, from providing food for our tables, to facilities for our hobbies and recreational activities.

Within Northern Ireland the majority of horticulture jobs are within amenity services and floristry. Education and training for these sectors is well serviced by the College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) at Greenmount Campus, Antrim.

The Horticulture Forum is active in lobbying for increased education courses in Production Horticulture, delivered at a more local level within Northern Ireland.

Some production orientated units and modules are currently available within larger general horticulture courses, especially in the areas of nursery stock production and protected cropping. These courses, provided by CAFRE, can be studied on a full or part-time basis. Opportunities may also exist under the Horticulture Apprenticeship Scheme.

CAFRE also provides industry training programmes to meet the technical and business development needs of people working in the production horticulture industry throughout Northern Ireland.

If you are interested in developing a career in horticulture and want to find out more about the education and training available, please take a look at the following sources of information: